Standard Lemma guide

porn

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /pɔːn/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /pɔɹn/
  • rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)n
  • homophone: (non-rhotic) pawn
  • CMU ARPABET: P AO1 R N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Pornography.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal, uncountable, usually

Examples

  • I just delete the porn before someone else uses the computer.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: erotica, filth, smut

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A pornographic work.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, in-plural, informal, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: adult movie, blue movie, X-rated movie, skin flick

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Material, usually visual, presenting something desirable in a sensational manner.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal, uncountable, usually

Examples

  • car porn
  • gun porn
  • food porn

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Material that provides illicit gratification of an obsessive or unhealthy interest in something.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: humorous, informal, often, uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

creative activity (writing or pictures or films etc.) of no literary or artistic value other than to stimulate sexual desire

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pornography, porno, erotica, smut

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: creation, creative activity

Narrower terms: child pornography, kiddie porn, kiddy porn

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *perh2-der. Proto-Hellenic *pórnē Ancient Greek πόρνη (pórnē) Proto-Indo-European *gerbh- Proto-Hellenic *grə́phō Ancient Greek γράφω (gráphō) Ancient Greek -γρᾰ́φος (-grắphos) Ancient Greek πορνογράφος (pornográphos)lbor. French pornographiebor. English pornographyclip. English porn Clipping of pornography. First attested in the mid-20th century.

Across languages

Translations

43 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bengali: পর্ন (pôrn) — pornography
  • Bulgarian: порно (porno) — pornography
  • Chinese Mandarin: 色情 (sèqíng) — pornography
  • Chinese Mandarin: 春宮 /春宫 (chūngōng) — pornography
  • Chinese Mandarin: 黃片 /黄片 — pornography
  • Chinese Mandarin: A片 (ēipiàn) — pornography
  • Danish: porno — pornography
  • Estonian: porno — pornography
  • Estonian: pornograafia — pornography
  • Finnish: porno — pornography
  • Finnish: pornografia — pornography
  • Galician: porno — pornography
  • German: Pornografie — pornography
  • Greek: πορνό (pornó) — pornography
  • Greek: πορνογραφία (pornografía) — pornography
  • Gujarati: પોર્ન (porn) — pornography
  • Hungarian: pornó — pornography
  • Icelandic: klám — pornography
  • Indonesian: porno — pornography
  • Italian: porno — pornography
  • Italian: pornografia — pornography
  • Japanese: ポルノ (poruno) — pornography
  • Korean: 야동 (yadong) — pornography
  • Macedonian: порно (porno) — pornography
  • Norwegian Bokmål: porno — pornography
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: porno — pornography
  • Polish: porno — pornography
  • Portuguese: pornô — pornography
  • Russian: по́рно (pórno) — pornography
  • Russian: порну́ха (pornúxa) — pornography
  • Spanish: porno — pornography
  • Swedish: porr — pornography
  • Thai: หนังโป๊ — pornography
  • Turkish: porno — pornography
  • Turkish: pornografi — pornography
  • Yiddish: פּאָרן (porn) — pornography
  • Bulgarian: порно (porno) — pornographic work
  • Finnish: porno- — pornographic work
  • German: Porno — pornographic work
  • Greek: πορνό (pornó) — pornographic work
  • Greek: πορνογράφημα (pornográfima) — pornographic work
  • Portuguese: pornô — pornographic work
  • Swedish: porrfilm — pornographic work